Basically I've been wanting to learn more technical aspects of peak bagging, i.e. rope work, ice axe and crampon technique. The goal is to be able to three season climb in the sierras, bag all of California's Fourteeners. At this point, I'm a competent hiker, backpacker, and scrambler, with minimal gym climbing, rappelling and bouldering experience.

That said, your skill set sounds like their hoped-for prerequisites and their desciption sounds like the perfect fit to your question. So the cynic in me suspects this is a veiled CMC advertisement. Sorry if im wrong....

You can do much of this without the class. Scrambling in the Sierra is mostly a matter of practice. 95%+ of the summits can be reached without rope, ax or crampon, in season. A reading of Freedom of the Hills can help you learn ax/crampon techniques and many Sierra peaks are suitable for learning since there are few crevasse dangers. I took a beginner ax/crampon class on Rainier back in the day, but thought it was pretty lame. Mostly a lot of standing around and listening. I did find good merit to a rock climbing class I took at Yosemite.

Sounds like you need to find some more experienced partners. Might consider checking out MeetUps, message boards or even Sierra Club outings. If the class you mentioned won't dent your wallet, go for it. Oh, and here's a bonafide plug - join the Sierra Challenge and you can meet lots of potential partners.

+1 on the Sierra Challenge. I've gained more confidence in my backcountry skills participating in the Challenge the last 3 years. I've met partners that I have climbed with outside of the Challenge as well. Unfortunately I won't be able to make the Challenge this year because I am taking my oldest daughter off to college. In Fort Collins. I think I'll be making a few trips to see her during her college years.

I took a glacier mountaineering course in Washington in 2007. Great class. Learned a ton about snow and glacier travel. As a rock climbing instructor, the rope work was review. Scrambling on loose sh!t seems to be the norm in the Sierra.

You can probably get away with backpacking boots and strap on crampons but you'll be happier with a pair of ultralight mountaineering boots like the La Sportiva Trango S Evo or Scarpa Rebel (Carbon if you can find them). They are stiffer so edge better on rock, work better kicking steps in snow, and are more effective with crampons (hard to front point in flexible soled shoes). The lightest mountaineering boots weigh less than many backpacking boots.

My favorite Sierra boot is a shoe. Five-Ten approach shoe, Camp Four. The sticky C-4 soles make it hard to beat scrambling talus and granite. I like the support of the Camp Four (even wear them backpacking,) though most of my friends prefer the lighter Guide Tennie. I only wear a boot if I will be spending many hours in snow. Even then we sometimes get away with an approach shoe and crampons or a lightweight mid-high hiking shoe like Oboz.

The class sounds like a good intro to me. Somehow you must meet others with the same enthusiasm for the mountains. I emailed a girl that I knew hiked consistently in 2007. We began hiking together and still do. I upped it to mountaineering in 2008 when I strapped on crampons for the first time and was smitten. I then took a snow travel course with SMI. Through this person I met many others and now always have friends I can suggest hikes and climbs to and stay active every weekend. The hikers who participate in the Sierra Challenge are some of the fastest and strongest mountaineers around. You might start with the Sierra Club to develop your skills and then the Sierra Challenge to master them. Good luck!

Norma R wrote:The hikers who participate in the Sierra Challenge are some of the fastest and strongest mountaineers around. You might start with the Sierra Club to develop your skills and then the Sierra Challenge to master them.

The Sierra Challenge skill levels vary more than you might think. Some participants never venture beyond class 2 and others limit their mileage and rarely make it to the summit. The trick is to know your limits, stick to them and have fun. And it's hard not to have fun in the Sierra during the summertime...